I'm Just Different
by snarksadoodle
Summary: We all can't match your standards of the perfect image. We can't change who we are. We won't apologize for not being just like you. We're not. We're all just a little different. CloudClan's September Contest
1. Chapter 1

" _Look, Dapplespots! Owlkit's eyes have opened! And they're such a beautiful shade of sky blue- just like his father's. If only he could see him now..." a dusky brown she-cat meowed in glee, ending her excitement with a wistful sigh as she gazed up at the leaf and bramble lined den. Across from her in a similar mossy nest, a white and black spotted queen empathized._

" _Hawkscreech was a valuable warrior," she agreed. "Think his eyes will stay like that?"_

 _"Oh, I hope so," the she-cat- Briarpath- smiled gleefully. "He's the only memory I have left of him..." She nuzzled her kit whose eyes were wide open like his namesake. "Hear that, my little Owl? Don't ever change, you're perfect."_

"Hey, Oddkit! Catch!"

The small brown tabby tom whirled around in a split second, only to meet a sticky wetness as moistened dirt plastered his face. The impact knocked him to his belly, landing with an ungraceful flop and a stifled squeal. Blinking away the mud, two different colored orbs shone through the murk- one blue while the other was green.

"That wasn't very nice, guys," Owlkit mewled, continuously blinking his wide set eyes.

"Aww, what's wrong Oddkit? We just wanted to include you in our game," the tallest kit feigned a look of rejection, his solid yellow optics distant and hurt.

Owlkit cocked his head, releasing another slow open and closing of his optics. "Game?"

"It's called 'odd one out'," stated the gray she-cat beside the other tom as she began gathering up wet earth in her paws. "You look for the one who's not like the other- " by now she had a spherical lump in her dirty appendages. " -and take 'em out!" Hurling another mass of dirt, it whacked against Owlkit's neck and head, sending him stumbling back only to land on his side.

"Is little Oddkit going to cry now?" sneered the yellow-eyed kit, noting tears forming in Owlkit's multicolored eyes. The tinier tom sniffled, allowing a few stray globs to roll down his muddy cheek.

"Smell you later!" chirped the spiky pelted female as she turned around, the taller male right beside her. "We don't want oddballs like you in our games!"

As the duo walked away, laughing, Owlkit shivered. He sniffed quietly, attempting to hide in the dirt and wash from existence. He shivered lightly, eyes closing slowly.

 _I'm not an oddball, I'm just different..._


	2. Chapter 2

"Better not fall, Tailless! Wouldn't want you break something!"

The sneer resonated through large brown ears, urging the host further up the rough bark skyscraper. Moss green optics burned with a mix of determination and defiance. As his pudgy brown tabby body swaggered on a thin and unstable branch, he was reminded of his unfortunate abnormality. He turned his head around broad shoulders, a dejected emotion flashing within the depths of dark green spheres.

The taunts weren't false.

 _Tailless_.

But their teasing only made the young 'paw fight harder. Tails were used for balance, right? The ultimate balance test was decided by his amber-eyed sibling- currently perched at the oak tree's roots, watching from afar as his blood relative struggled to prove himself.

"Oh come on, Tailless! It's not as if you'll ever make it any further. Why don't you just come on down and admit defeat? I promise I'll go easy on you."

 _Yeah right_ , the treed-twin hissed under his breath, refraining from yelling in case it threw off his precarious balancing act. Reaching up with a white-toed paw, the thick bodied tomcat angled his oddly proportioned figure to climb up to the next branch.

The tabby twin at the base sniggered obnoxiously as "Tailless" awkwardly scaled another perch that noticeably bent under newly added pressure.

As he shuddered, a loud chortle sliced through the low grunting. "Looks like you're not just lacking a tail, but also a figure! Leaning a little on the plump side, I see." Snickers turned into full outbursts of laughter, rocking leaves from their loose grip upon thin tendrils of bark, fluttering on the faint breeze and descending with an air of grace. An amount of grace that tripled the near non-existence of the other's. In which clumsiness outweighed the latter.

"Fat and tailless!" sputtered the unfortunately slimmer brother, unknowingly causing the other the burn with shame and utmost embarrassment. "I'm surprised you survived this long! In my opinion, you should've been cast out like the oddity you are!"

Flashbacks of gray whirled through the tailless twin's mind- recalling every hurtful word.

 _Freak._

 _Tailless._

 _Clumsy._

 _Useless._

 _Unwanted._

 _Fat._

 _Worseless._

 _Oddity._

Attempting to hold back his quivers, he wasn't able to cease the muffled waterworks that leaked from his eyes. Teeth gritted, he begrudgingly released a mournful sob. Rather than care, the 'paw spat bottled up emotions.

 _I'm not fat and tailless, I'm just different..._


	3. Chapter 3

"Isn't it embarrassing?" a fluffy white tom munched hungrily on a lizard, glancing at a ginger striped tabby warrior.

"What?" the ginger tabby replied, clearly befuddled.

"That our leader is _blind_." A pretty black she-cat added, hissing under her breath.

"Yeah. Where have you been in the past three moons? Under a rock?" the white warrior sniffed, nose crinkling.

"We're supposed to be the most feared Clan, yet we have the only cat incapable of sight leading us into battle. It's revolting! What do you think the other Clans are saying?" growled the sleek female, tail starting to lash subconsciously.

"'ShadowClan's weak', 'ShadowClan can't fight', 'ShadowClan's a Clan full of misfits and elders'. Blegh! Disgusting!" the white tom huffed, his voice pitching shrill as he imitated the voices of other cats from the other Clans.

"Nettlestar is nothing but a poison that lives to taint our perfect way of life! He's a useless oddity and couldn't lead ducklings much less a Clan!"

A blunt nod confirmed the she-cat's icy words- the ginger tabby still looking somewhat doubtful.

"Maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions," he suggested softly, internally cringing and wishing he hadn't spoke as two sets of glares pierced his soul. His tufted ears pinned, green eyes wary as he awaited a harsh lecture.

And a lecture he did receive.

"Jump to conclusions? You think we're jumping to conclusions? How about you scrape the dirt out of your ears and listen, dung for brains!" a bitter hiss spluttered from the white warrior's snapping jaws. "WindClan attacked us less than a moon ago. They _knew_ we had a blind leader and took that to their advantage in order to take territory! We lost Graydapple to blood loss, Wildeyes to a throat slice, plenty of Larkstripe's precious herbs, and not to mention, our _great and powerful_ leader managed to lose not one, but _two_ lives! You really think Nettlestar's anything more than useless?"

As the ginger fell silent, a sense of triumph washed over the other two warriors.

Further away, across the clearing- out of sight and out of mind- no one paid any attention to the vacant eavesdropper. Shoulders drooping, the hidden black and gray flecked feline listened to every demeaning insult. Though he couldn't see them, he could imagine the voices' owners accompanied by very distinct expressions. Lips quivering, ShadowClan's leader curled up tightly.

 _I'm_ _not useless, I'm just different..._


	4. Chapter 4

"Floralhaze, this isn't safe..."

A gray tabby tom faced a black spotted white warrior- her eyes a bright sage yet oddly hazed with malice and hidden ambitions. Pale-faced, body trembling, the tabby resisted the urge to look over his shoulder at the roaring water below. Blue eyes wide as moons, the tabby felt like a mouse caught in the claws of a sly warrior who insisted on toying with its prey before making the final blow.

"Well," the bigger feline prompted. "Go on."

"I told you, it's not safe," the tinier cat attempted to change her mind.

"Pebblepad," Floralhaze growled out, claws sliding from their sheaths. As the tom flinched, she continued in a sultry timbre, furthering the nausea in the tom's stomach. "It's not as if you can't survive a little water. Your father was RiverClan, was he not?"

A visible recoil.

"Time to put those Half-Clan abilities to the test, eh?" Pebblepad did not like the predatory glint glassing over the other's optics. Nor did he like the abrupt step closer, to which he responded with a pawstep back.

"Can't we just let bygones be bygones?" Pebblepad resorted to persuasion, hoping he didn't have to grovel. Though if the conversation continued down this path, it would be inevitable that he would have no choice but to beg.

"Never!" a startling hiss whipped from the unstable she-cat's vocals. "You of all cats should know why! My father was brutally murdered by a RiverClan cat! My father left me when I was but an infant. Stonekit's what- four moons now?" she mused, referring to Pebblepad's son. "Just about how old I was...How old I was when a RiverClan raid left me fatherless. It's because of your brutal kin that cost me a family member I barely knew!"

"Don't bring Stonekit into this!" Pebblepad begged, desperate.

"He was brought into this as soon as he was born!" Floralhaze retorted swiftly. "Now he gets to experience what I did. From here until death, he'll live without his dearest father!" Without words- just a ferocious snarl- the black and white she-cat launched herself at the tense body of her clanmate.

Pebblepad had no space to block or dodge. Gasping, he accepted the rush head on, hardly surprised when nothing but air graced his paw pads.

"Half-Clan freak!" was the last thing that resonated through his ear canals.

 _I'm not a freak, I'm just different..._


End file.
